One Dog Less
by TMJones
Summary: An S/J pairing oneshot YY/Y on the side that starts out with how much Joey hates being called a puppy by Kaiba. He uses an actual puppy for emphasis. Then things get serious. And fluffy. More inside.


A/N: About five pages of the text for this was written in '06, and then left behind in a folder in favor of other things. Now I have found it again, over three years later, and have patched it up and lengthened it into a final product.

A short note on the setting/time placement; if you read my oneshot called "Darcy", the setting is exactly the same as this, with this timeline being a little after what happens that fic. It's after the whole TV/manga series has ended, everyone's off being a grown-up and doing other things. I never watched the end of the original series, so I don't know what all happens (do Kaiba and Joey end up being friends? Does Kaiba drop the whole puppy thing? If so, I've just created a big plothole with this fic, lol). Let's just make it AU for the heck of it.

Happy reading!

Title: One Dog Less

* * *

"Thanks, Joey, I really appreciate this."

Joey shrugged, giving the golden retriever puppy a scratch behind the ears.

"Anytime, Yug," he said. "You might wanna give me a little more warning next time, though."

Yugi laughed.

"Yeah, I know. I thought I could do it, but then I get a call this morning from the office, and," he shrugged, "here I am. I'd just ask Yami, but—"

"He's working' today," Joey interrupted. "You told me on the phone."

Yugi frowned, pausing in his frantic rush to find his keys.

"I did?"

"Yeah," Joey laughed. "Now stop talking and get goin'."

"Right," Yugi said, "Now if only I could find my keys—ah!" He pulled them out from two cushions in the couch.

"What were they doing there…?"

He paused for a moment, wondering. Then, shaking his head, he walked to the front door of the small apartment, and grabbed his jacket.

"I've told you where everything is, right?"

"Yup," Joey said, "On the phone."

"Right," Yugi replied, "And I've got keys, jacket, briefcase is in the car…okay! I'm leaving!"

Joey looked down at the dog sitting next to him.

"Look at that, Sam. He's leaving. Never woulda guessed."

Yugi laughed again.

"I'll be back this afternoon," he said, opening the door, "Make yourself at home, and the extra keys are—"

"On the counter in the kitchen," Joey finished.

"I told you that?"

Joey nodded.

"Okay, um…I think that's everything."

Another nod.

"All right then," Yugi said, walking out the door, "Bye!"

And he was gone.

Joey shook his head. He cast a glance around the small apartment. He'd never been here before, miraculously enough. He was surprised that it was so clean, considering what Yugi's room had always looked like in high school. But he supposed that was Yami's doing.

It had been odd to Joey, their getting together. He would never have thought it, but after Yami had gotten his own body, things had just kind of advanced from there—and quickly...

Now, Joey and the rest of them were about to start their third year of college. Most of them were working, like Yugi. Joey wished he had a more interesting job. And better grades...

Sam the retriever looked up at Joey, eyes wide and hopeful.

"Nice try," Joey said, "but I'm not gonna feed you again. Yugi already did that."

Sam started panting; it looked like he was smiling.

"...That's kinda funny...what, do you wanna get picked up?"

Sam perked up immediately at being held; he started to wiggle his tail furiously, looking at Joey with large, trusting, amber eyes.

"Aw," Joey said, despite himself, "that's cute..."

The doorbell rang. Sam barked at the noise and started to wiggle again, excited.

"Oh, no you don't—I'm not letting you down just so you can run through the front!"

Joey tucked Sam under his arm and answered it, hoping it was a delivery man, or something—someone he could easily shoo away with a quick 'they're not here'.

But out of all the people that could have been at the door, whether it was the delivery person or another surprise friend of Yami's from ancient Egypt reincarnated and bent on revenge, the one person that absolutely wasn't on Joey's makeshift list was the person who was actually there.

Joey promptly swallowed whatever greeting he was about to say—he'd already forgotten.

Seto Kaiba raised an eyebrow at him; a show of mild surprise.

"Hello Wheeler."

"Gyab—uh..."

"Is Yami here?"

Joey shook his head. Sam jogged him out of his shock by barking again, and wiggling.

"Isn't that interesting," Kaiba said, casting a glance at the puppy, "Are you guys playmates, or something?"

"What's it to you?" Joey snapped, acting more out of habit than intention.

"I just wanted to know," Kaiba said, shrugging, "I mean, I come up here and knock on Yami and Yugi's door only to find you home. I think I'm surprised."

"You think?" Joey asked flatly.

"Just tell me why you're over here with a golden retriever under your arm," Kaiba snapped, "or is that too much to ask?"

"Yugi was dog-sitting, but he had to get called in to work suddenly," Joey reiterated, "so he woke me up at ten and dragged me outta bed with the biggest guilt trip I've ever heard in my life."

"I see."

"What did you want Yami for, anyway?"

Kaiba shrugged.

"The usual. A challenge to chess, or something."

Joeys' already shocked mind fuzzed a little, at the sentence. Yami? And Kaiba? Playing chess? The _usual_?

"...huh?"

"Since we're not hell-bent on cards anymore, we're on amicable terms," Kaiba translated.

The explanation helped Joey's short-circuiting mind. A little.

"...Oh."

"May I come in?"

Joey shrugged.

"As long as ya don't break anything, I guess..."

On reflection, he didn't know why he decided that letting the one person that annoyed him most in the world into the apartment was an okay idea. It wasn't like Joey could just leave, or anything...

The door slammed shut again after Kaiba; to Joey, it sounded very ominous and finalizing. Like the jail bars closing in front of the camera when a TV-drama character got stuck in prison by mistake, inevitably leaving the viewers all angsty until next week.

"_Man..._" Joey muttered under his breath, locking the door again. He set Sam down.

"All right, go play, or somethin'."

Sam sat down, right in front of Joey, using those large eyes of his again.

"What? You already got fed! Go do something!"

"I wouldn't say that," Kaiba said; he was taking his trenchcoat off and putting it in the coat closet.

"Why?"

As if on cue, Joey looked back to see that Sam had stood up again, and—

"Aw, Sam! Ya _had _to do that on the carpet!"

Sam wagged his tail, looking quite pleased with himself.

"Yeah, I'm sure you look happy," Joey said, "with all that pee outta your bladder...geez..."

Joey heard some kind of strange noise coming from Kaiba's direction. By the time he had looked to see what it was, though, Kaiba was already on his way into the kitchen on the other side of the apartment, walking rather quickly. For a split second, Joey wondered what was wrong with him—but then he decided not to waste the energy trying to figure it out. Instead, he gingerly picked Sam up and walked him over to the newspapers Yugi had laid out for him on the linoleum flooring just outside the kitchen.

"There," he said, plopping the dog onto the newspaper, "That's where ya go!"

Sam looked at the newspaper for a moment; he seemed confused.

"It's not that hard," Joey said, crossing his arms. As much as Joey loved them, dogs could really be dense, sometimes...

Sam wandered off, nose to the ground. Kaiba had to step over him as he came out of the kitchen, paper towels and cleaner in hand.

"Whoa," Joey said, registering the sight as it breezed by him, "you're actually cleaning?"

"I am capable," Kaiba responded dryly, "If that's what you're asking."

Joey shook his head, impervious to the comment in lieu of his shock.

"It's just—you're cleaning..."  
"Shut up, Wheeler," Kaiba snapped from the front entryway, "I'm not the one who's talking to the dog like it understands that the hell I'm saying."

"Hey!" Joey defended, "Dogs know that kinda stuff!"

"He's a puppy—how would he know _now_?"

"That's why ya teach 'em now! Have you never had a dog?"

"I've beaten one at duel monsters," Kaiba returned, as he shoved the paper towels into the nearest garbage, "but I've never owned one."

"That," Joey snapped, "Is REALLY getting old!"

Kaiba paused in coating the stain with carpet cleaner.

"Sensitive much?" he asked—Joey could have sworn the edge of his mouth twitched. Not that it really mattered; he was too irked to care, anyway...

"I'm not sensitive! You're an ass!"

Kaiba didn't respond; just went back to scrubbing the carpet with another paper towel.

Perhaps it was the fact that Kaiba had appeared out of nowhere, after a blissful two years of non-Kaiba-ness. Perhaps it was the fact that over those two years, he had thought about how stupid those jokes had been, and how silly it was to egg Kaiba on by getting so worked up about them. Maybe it was the fact that he had gotten worked up _again_ now, after a mere however long it had been since Kaiba had stepped into the apartment—like he had gotten thrown back in time, suddenly, and nothing had changed.

Whatever it was, it caused Joey to let out a loud, unintelligible noise of frustration, and stalk over to the bookshelves where Sam had contented himself with trying to climb in between the dictionary and the thesaurus. Joey yanked him out from between the books, stalked back over to Kaiba, and shoved the dog in his face.

"Ya see this?!" Joey shouted, "_This_ is a puppy! It's got four legs and a collar, a tail, and fur all over it!"

He put the puppy down, a little more roughly than he intended to. Sam gave out a yip, and scurried off.

"This," he said, pointing to himself, "is Joey! He's got two legs, _no_ fur, and has a lot more varied of a diet than dog chow!"

Kaiba merely stared at him for a moment. Then, his eyes glittered in amusement.

"What about the tail?" he asked.

Joey's patience snapped in half.

"All right, that's it! I never shoulda let you in! OUT!" He shouted.

Kaiba slowly stood, eyeing the transformed Joey in front of him.

"Are you kicking me out of Yami's apartment?"

"Yes! I can't leave 'cause of Sam, so I'm kicking you out!"

"Don't have an aneurism" Kaiba said, crossing his arms, "If you don't like being likened to a dog, then don't act like one."

"_How did I ever act like one?! _An' why does that mean that you can keep annoying me with it every time you see me?! Is this some kind of sick fetish I don't know about?! Seriously! It's been WAY too long to keep using that joke—ever heard of beating a dead horse—!?"

"All right," Kaiba said calmly, holding up his hands.

Joey stopped in mid-rant.

"Wha—?"

Kaiba's expression was strangely blank.

"I said 'all right'," he said, putting his hands down again, "That's all."

"...All right to what?"

Kaiba shrugged.

"You don't want me to call you a dog. So I won't call you a dog anymore."

Joey just stood where he was for a moment, astounded—and very suspicious.

"You sure?" He asked, eyeing Kaiba. "This isn't some kinda twist of words, or anything?"

Kaiba nodded.

"Yes. It was a stupid joke to begin with. But I got more mileage out of it than I ever thought I would. Now I see that its charm has finally run out. So I'm done."

"Tuh!" Joey scoffed, "It didn't have any charm to begin with…"

"Yes it did."

"What do you mean?!" Joey snapped, "I never liked it in the first place!"

"I wasn't talking about your liking it. If you liked it, there would be no point."

"Then what charm are you talking about?! Who was charmed?!"

At this, Kaiba raised his eyebrows.

"The same person that was around every time I made the allusion to your being a dog."

Joey thought for a moment.

"The only other person that was around when ya did that was me, Kaiba. That's not makin' sense."

"No, there was another person," Kaiba insisted. He walked over to where Joey was standing, expression still impassive, arms crossed.

Joey rolled his eyes; this was getting exasperating…

"It takes two people to make a joke," he said, talking slowly and holding up two fingers as to make it very clear what Kaiba was apparently missing, "The one that makes it—and that's you—and the one that hears it—that's me. _I_ didn't think the dog jokes were funny. And _you_…"

But Joey faltered in mid-sentence, at the small, tentative smile that spread across Kaiba's face.

Joey's eyes narrowed.

"All right, that was funny," Joey said flatly, "Real funny. I'm laughing."

"Of course," Kaiba replied, failing the efforts to keep his face straight.

Joey stared at him for a moment, suddenly realizing that this was the first time he'd seen Kaiba smile—ever. This day was just getting stranger by the moment...

"What?" Kaiba asked, regaining control of himself.

"…I've never seen you do that."

"Do what?"

"Something other than look mad. It's weird."

Kaiba raised an eyebrow at that.

"Just so you know, I have felt more than one emotion since I have known you."

Joey let out a dry laugh.

"Not around me ya haven't."

Kaiba shifted.

"Are you sure about that?"

Again, Joey gave him a strange look.

"What?" Kaiba asked, doing his best to look innocent.

"You're starting to scare me, that's what."

"If my feeling more than one emotion for the past year scares you, then I'm curious to know what mortifies you. Two emotions? If I tell you I've felt three, will I kill you from shock?"

Joey didn't respond right away. He was giving Kaiba that strange look again.

"Huh," Kaiba said after a moment, taking in Joey's expression, "I think I might have."

"Why are you all the sudden talkin' about your emotions?" Joey finally said, "What the hell?"

"I'm just talking about my human qualities," Kaiba said, "What are you reading it as?"

Joey shook his head.

"You know what I mean."

"No, I'm afraid I don't," Kaiba replied.

"You're…" Joey paused, in search for the word, "Happy! You're suddenly completely different!"

"Oh, good, you noticed something."

"Why?! Where's tortured angsty, crazy Kaiba? Did ya leave him outside, or somethin'?"

"No," Kaiba said, outright glaring at Joey now—something in Joey relaxed; he was used to this Kaiba, he knew how to act around this Kaiba...

For a long moment, they stared at each other. Kaiba glaring, Joey...just staring. He was more than a little confused, now...this was so—random...

Kaiba broke the staring contest; he looked slightly off to the side, and sighed.

"I didn't actually come over to see Yami."

Joey blinked.

"Eh? You came to see Yugi then?"

"No."

"...._Sam_—?"

"You."

Joey blinked again.

"I came here to see you," Kaiba continued, "I—I wanted to apologize."

If Joey had been holding anything at the moment, it would have fallen to the carpet. As it was he just stood rooted to his spot, outright gawking now. He really needed to work on his verbal skills...

"For _what_?" He managed to say.

Kaiba shrugged.

"For being an ass."

Another long silence. Kaiba shifted again; it was making him uncomfortable.

"After...two years since last seeing you, ya come back and apologize for all the dog jokes? And almost killing me a few times? And almost killing my friends more than a few times?"

Kaiba nodded.

"Something like that."

After yet another long moment, Joey gave up trying to understand what was happening; after all, he'd seen stranger in his lifetime, thanks to Yami and that millennium puzzle. He shook his head.

"Took ya long enough..."

He turned and looked for Sam. Knowing how puppies were, he'd probably been out of Joey's sight long enough to start chewing on something.

"All right, Sam, where'd ya run off to? Saaam!"

Surprisingly, he heard a yip from Yami and Yugi's bedroom.

"Hey!" he said, smiling, "He responded!"

He turned to Kaiba.

"See? They _do_ know what you're saying!"

Before he went to track him down, Joey could have sworn he'd seen Kaiba's expression change, a little. He didn't know what expression it changed to, but for some reason it sent a hint of warning through Joey's mind. Joey shoved it away—obviously Kaiba was a bit more tame since last time he'd seen him. That, and Yami trusted him. What did Joey have to worry about?

Dismissing the thought, Joey shoved open the bedroom door—and froze.

"Aw, man..."

"What?" He heard Kaiba's voice ask

"I don't wanna go in here..."

"It's just a bedroom," Kaiba said, walking over, "Why is that bad?"

"It's Yami and Yugi's bedroom," Joey explained, "They're kinda...together, ya know."

"So?"

"So...there could be something in there," Joey said, "And they're my friends. It's weird."

"What, you think they left something out?"

Joey shivered.

"Ech..."

"Wimp."

Kaiba pushed past him and flipped on the lights. An ordinary bedroom lit up around him, and he proceeded to look for the dog. It didn't take long; Same leaped out of the closet, someone's shoe in his mouth.

"Sam! No chewie!" Joey yelled, charging into the room and grabbing the shoe, yanking to get it out of Sam's mouth. It took some effort; Sam wanted to play tug o' war, apparrently.

"Give it back!"

"Chewie?" Kaiba asked flatly.

"Shyaddup!" Joey snapped, forcing Sam's jaw open. Sam let the shoe go in favor of making a snap at Joey.

"Hey!" Joey wrapped his hand around the dog's snout, "No!"

Sam calmed down; he put his tail in between his legs.

"That's right," Joey said, "No bitie."

"Did you always talk baby talk around animals, or is this a new thing?"

Joey straightened. Kaiba had that amused smirk on his face again.

"Bad habit," he said, pointing the shoe at Kaiba, "An' I don't need _you_ makin' fun of me for it. I thought you were apologizing, and all that crap."

"If I can't at least make fun of you for something, what can I do?" Kaiba asked, crossing his arms again.

"I dunno, be nice?" Joey countered, throwing the shoe back in the closet.

Kaiba didn't respond to that. Joey just scooped up Sam, deciding _not_ to react to Kaiba's silence.

"No more shoes for you. We're going back out into the living room."

He walked over to the couch and sat down, letting Sam explore the seat next to him. Kaiba followed, shutting the bedroom door behind him. He sat down on the armrest on Joey's other side.

"He seems really interested in the couch," Kaiba said. Joey looked over to see Sam with his face completely buried in the cushion. Joey smiled; this dog really was too cute for his own good...

"Well, he can't jump up here yet," Joey said, ruffling Sam's back. Sam pulled his head up and yipped, wiggling as he did so.

Joey laughed.

"I figured he could have a look around," he said warmly. He really was a sucker for animals...it would have made him self-conscious, but he had known Kaiba for a while. Even if he was an ass, it wasn't news to him that Joey liked animals. They had gotten to know a lot about each other, over time... and now that he thought about it, Joey really didn't _hate_ Kaiba like he would have thought in high school when they first met. Kaiba seemed to have changed, too, even since the last time they'd met. Even then he was a bit tamer. Now he just seemed...normal.

"So was apologizing for being in ass in high school the only thing you came over for?" Joey asked.

Kaiba shrugged.

"It seemed like the right thing to do," he said, "That, and Yami was bugging me about it."

_Now _it clicked. Kaiba hadn't come out of the blue; Yami had been behind all this.

Joey laughed.

"Why would that matter now?"

"Well, think about it," Kaiba said, "We were at each other's throats the second we saw each other, after two years of being out of contact."

Joey nodded.

"That's true..."

A silence.

"So," Kaiba said, shifting on the arm of the couch, "How's...life?"

Joey shrugged.

"Fine," he said. He didn't feel like he needed to go into detail—this was Kaiba, after all..

"How's Honda?"

"Hell if I know."

A pause.

Joey sighed.

"He and I aren't talkin' anymore. Ever since I told him I was gay, things haven't been the same. He got all creeped out."

Kaiba's eyes widened at that.

"W—What?"

"Oh, yeah," Joey said, looking up at Kaiba, "By the way, I came outta the closet."

He grinned.

Kaiba shifted on his seat again.

"I, um...didn't know that."

"What, Yami didn't tell you I've got cooties?"

"Very funny."

Joey laughed a dull laugh.

"Yeah, believe me," he said, "It's hilarious losin' your best friend 'cause he can't stand you anymore."

Thankfully, Sam broke the awkward silence before it started by hopping onto Joey's lap and—falling asleep.

"That was quick," Joey said, ruffling the dog's ears. Sam yawned, and flopped his head down back on Joey's lap.

"Aww..."

Kaiba laughed.

"You sound like Yugi."

Joey just kept petting the dog, completely absorbed.

Kaiba got up, and went to the front hall again. Joey listened as he picked up the paper towels and cleaner, and put them back where they went in the kitchen. He came back and sat gingerly on the other side of the couch, watching Sam as he did so.

"So I guess things _have_ changed," he said quietly.

"Have they not for you?"

Kaiba shrugged.

"Mokuba's in high school," he said, "I'm still working. I'm just going to college now at the same time, instead of high school."

"That's a change," Joey said. Then, he laughed.

"Found any girlfriends yet?"

Kaiba raised an eyebrow.

"Is that supposed to be a funny prospect?"

Joey didn't bother holding his laughter in. He threw his head back and laughed hard at the prospect of Kaiba acting all nervous around some boring daughter of the head of another big company.

"I'll take that as a yes," Kaiba said dryly.

"Hoo," Joey breathed, gaining control of himself again, "I guess that's not nice."

"Not really."

"You're not trying to hurt me, though."

"Self-restraint," Kaiba replied. He didn't sound very serious about it.

Joey was surprised; had he cultivated a sense of humor? How amazing...

Kaiba straightened suddenly; like he was bracing himself.

"I guess my story is similar to yours," he said.

Joey looked at him.

"What're you talkin' about?"

Kaiba straightened his slacks.

"...Honda wouldn't like me very much either, I think."

Joey felt his eyes widen, and his limbs slacken from the utter shock.

"Are you—_No_..."

Kaiba looked sideways at him.

"I am."

"_Whoa!_" Joey exclaimed, laughing again, "No way!"

Kaiba nodded.

Joey just about fell off he couch, he was laughing so hard. Through the haze of the tears that had formed in his eyes, he saw Kaiba watching him, smiling slightly.

"What's wrong with all of us?" Joey finally managed, "_Man! _First Yami and Yugi, then me, now you! Anyone else I need to know about?"

"Duke," Kaiba said.

Joey let that one work on his mind.

"Ah, I can see that, though. Yugi's the one that had me fooled."

Kaiba let out a laugh.

"More than me?"

"I'm just surprised you could figure it out."

He grinned at Kaiba.

Kaiba looked away. He swallowed.

"Eh? What's wrong?"

"Nothing," he said.

"Why're you all uptight, then?"

"No reason."

A silence fell over them. Joey realized Sam wasn't on the couch anymore.

"Sam...? Saaaaam!"

He got up and searched the apartment; it didn't take very long, considering it consisted of only a kitchen, the living room space, and Yami and Yugi's bedroom off to the side. And the door to their tiny balcony.

Sam was in the kitchen, trying to knock the garbage can over.

"Hey!" Joey said, "Quit it!"

He shoved the garbage can under the sink. Sam gave him his forlorn puppy-dog eyes.

"Sorry, that's not gonna work this time, buddy."

"Why do dogs do that?"

Joey turned; Kaiba was leaning against the door frame. In the corner, Yami's pet cockatoo gave a warble; apparently she was sleeping.

"It's a scavenging thing," he said. "They eat anything they can get. Only some do that, though."

Kaiba looked at the puppy. Sam yipped, and came over to sit in front of Kaiba.

"Hi," Kaiba said coldly.

"Don't sound excited or anything," Joey laughed. Kaiba continued staring at the puppy. If Joey didn't know any better, he'd say the dog was making Kaiba uncomfortable.

"Have you ever had a pet?" Joey asked.

Kaiba shook his head.

"Nope. Too much hassle."

"Have you ever pet one, at least?"

Slowly, Kaiba shook his head, still keeping an eye on the dog.

This gave Joey an idea.

He stepped forward and picked Sam up, who immediately started wiggling again. He held the dog out to Kaiba.

"Pet him!"

Kaiba gave Joey an icy, mirthless glare that brought back memories. It used to give Joey the chills.

Now it just seemed silly. Childish, even.

"Come on! He won't bite, I promise."

"You've been around this dog for barely two hours," Kaiba countered, glancing at the kitchen clock. "How do you know anything about it other than its name?"

"Sam's a puppy! He's a pure-bred golden retriever!"

"You realize I have no idea what that means."

"He's nice!" Joey countered, "That's what it means!"

Keeping his glare on Joey, he slowly raised his hand. Sam yipped; Kaiba jumped. Joey tried not to laugh.

Then, slowly, Kaiba reached out towards Sam. Joey held Sam out further, since Kaiba was taking too long; Sam's nose collided with Kaiba's finger, and he flinched.

"See?"

Sam wiggled as Kaiba's fingers finally settled on Sam's snout. He stayed still, panting, as Kaiba tentatively pet him.

"Lookit that, you're not getting mauled."

"Funny."

Kaiba's tone was a bit softer when he said it this time. Joey didn't know whether he was talking about the dog or something else.

They stayed like that for a long time—Kaiba was petting, Joey was holding, Sam was wiggling.

"We should hang out sometime."

Kaiba paused.

"Huh?"

Joey shrugged; he didn't know why he'd blurted that out, but it seemed like an okay idea...

"I dunno," he said, "I just thought of it."

A small smile crept up on Kaiba's face again.

"That's exactly what Yugi said."

Joey blinked.

"Seriously?"

"No, I just said that to be funny."

"Ha ha?"

That made Kaiba laugh, a little. Joey tried not to fall over from shock.

"How about tomorrow?"

"Sure."

Joey smiled; this would definitely be interesting...

The agreed on meeting in the park at one, the next day. They'd figure out what to do from there. Kaiba left a little after that, muttering something about work, even though it was a weekend.

"Well, Sam," he said, after Kaiba had pulled the apartment door shut, "I think I made a friend."

Sam licked his hand.

"Okay, two."

* * *

Yami was the first to come home. Joey started talking the second he had realized it was him, and somehow managed to spit out everything that had happened since Yugi left before Yami even hung up his coat. Minus Sam peeing on the carpet.

"Kaiba did _what_?"

"I swear, I'm not lying!" Joey held up his hands, "he said it was your suggestion!"

Yami laughed.

"I said it would be a good idea—I'm surprised he actually brought himself to do it, though."

"I didn't know you guys were talking."

"Yeah," Yami said, as he hung up his jacket, "He comes over here during lunch, sometimes. He's quite different now."

"No kidding..."

Yami paused, and frowned.

"Did he tell you about—"

"—his being a fruit? Yeah."

Yami raised his eyebrows.

"Wow."

Joey's eyes widened.

"Wait—did you know about that?"

"Yeah," Yami said, shutting the coat closet door, "I'm just surprised he told you that right away."

"Right away?" Joey asked, another warning flag flying up in his mind, "What's that supposed to mean?"

Yami shook his head—a little too quickly.

"Nothing."

He ignored Joey eying him, and made his way into the kitchen. Joey let it drop after a moment, though; he really didn't feel like thinking anymore that day. He needed to do some serious slouching, after all this news...

"So how was Sam?"

Joey gladly took the opportunity to talk about the puppy, and launched into a very detailed account of what Sam had done that morning. Yami listened, glad that Sam had been well-cared for. He was very amused that Joey had managed to get Kaiba to pet an animal; he seemed to think it wasn't possible.

He also was amused that Kaiba and Joey were going to hang out tomorrow—although he wouldn't tell Joey why. Joey let it be; Yami was strange like that, anyway.

"Have fun," was all he'd said.

* * *

Sunday afternoon at one, Joey found himself sitting on a park bench, scouring the area for any sign of Kaiba. He'd been there for a few minutes; he'd hurried from his apartment to the park, thinking he was late, only to realize his watch was off. So here he was.  
Staring at the grass.

Joey shifted on the bench; he really didn't feel like sitting at the moment. The sun was infectious, and he was surrounded by perfectly good soccer turf. He just needed a few more people...and a ball—

"You're on time?"

"Gyah!"

Joey leapt out of his seat and whirled around, almost losing his balance in the process.

"Is that supposed to be 'hello'?"

Kaiba was standing behind the bench, arms crossed, looking indifferent.

"Nyagh!"

"Words, Joey. Use them."

"Don't _do _that!" Joey finally managed to spit out, clutching his chest, "Geez!"

"I take it you're easily startled."

"Yes!"

"That's good to know."

Joey's eyes narrowed.

"I don't like how that sounded."

Kaiba smirked.

"You shouldn't."

Joey shook his head, trying to shake off the shock that was still riddling him.

"Thought of anywhere to go yet?"

Kaiba shrugged.

"Somewhere without a lot of people."

"Eh?"

"I own a company," he said, "I like to keep a low profile in public."

"Oh, yeah, you do, don't you?"

Somehow, Joey had forgotten about that whole aspect of Kaiba's life.

"...Does that mean we gotta go hide somewhere, or somethin'?"

"No," Kaiba said, "Most people don't recognize me without the suit and entourage."

Joey only noticed then that Kaiba wasn't wearing the usual business casual, or trenchcoat, even. Just slacks and a blue polo shirt.

"You look like you're going golfing."

"I didn't ask your opinion."

Joey snickered. That earned a glare. Which just made Joey laugh more.

"Are we going to do something or not?" Kaiba snapped, "Because right now, staring at a wall would be more interesting than this—"

"Let's play soccer!"

Kaiba gave Joey a strange look. Joey put his arm down; he'd shoved his fist into the air in excitement, for some odd reason. That was a bit girly...

"What?"

"_Here_?"

Joey looked around.

"Does it have cooties, or somethin'?"

"It's small. And dirty."

The disgusted expression on Kaiba's face was enough to make Joey laugh again.

"All right, Princess, if it'll make ya feel better, we can play at the rec center with the plastic grass."

That earned another glare.

"Not if you're going to call me that."  
Joey grinned.

"Deal."

The rec center was the the gym on Joey's college campus, a huge building with three stories, each with multiple rooms dedicated to various sports. The fake field was on the bottom floor, right next door to the basketball courts. Kaiba had to sign in as a guest at the front desk, which he did under a fake name.

"Youichiro?" Joey asked, when they were out of earshot.

"It's one I haven't used in a while."

"Man...that's gotta be hard."

"Remembering the fake name you're going by? It's not _that_ hard."

"Nah, but what if ya meet someone who knows you by one name somewhere else where you're usin' another fake name?"

Kaiba shrugged.

"Make up a story."  
Joey shook his head.

"That just sounds complicated..."  
"If your brain's the size of a pea, maybe."

"Hay!"

Kaiba pushed the door to the field open, laughing.

"Careful, Joey—I think your accent's showing."

"Who asked you?"  
Kaiba just smirked, and grabbed a soccer ball off the rack right next to the door.

"Looks like there's no one here."

Joey glanced around at the large field.

"Sweet."

* * *

They played on half the field; Kaiba proclaimed himself the goalie, which was fine with Joey; he was going to suggest that anyway, for the sake of getting some practice in. After scoring his fifth goal within five minutes and getting in a lot of tricks besides, he noticed Kaiba was eying him curiously.

"Did I tell you I was on the soccer team last year?" Joey asked, flashing a wide grin.

Kaiba straightened from his goalie position.

"No, you didn't mention that."

"Took up too much time, though," he said. "I wasn't on a scholarship or anythin', I just tried out and got in. So I quit next year."

"You quit soccer because you didn't have time?" Kaiba asked. "What else are you doing?"

"The usual," Joey said, kicking the ball into the air and juggling it as he talked, "School, work, payin' bills..."

He bumped the ball into Kaiba's direction with his head; Kaiba caught it in his hands.

"No relationships?" he asked.

"Nah," Joey said. "Everyone thinks they've gotta act like a girl. It's kinda annoying."

The corner of Kaiba's mouth twitched.

"That's an interesting observation," he managed to say.

Joey crossed his arms.

"Yeah, I'm sure _you've _had no problem."

Kaiba let the soccer ball fall back to the ground, and tapped it towards Joey; he looked awkward again.

"I haven't looked," he said.

Joey felt himself gawking again.

"_Seriously?_ When you've got everything going for ya? Money? Houses—"

"and no time," Kaiba interrupted.

"...Oh. Yeah, I guess that's a problem..."

Kaiba shrugged.  
"Besides, the minute I get a personal life, everyone will be wanting to find out about it."

"_Oh_..."

Kaiba raised an eyebrow at Joey.

"You look like a fish."

Joey shook his head, wiping the expression off his face.

"Sorry."

Kaiba looked off to the side of the court; his expression was serious again—the familiar expression, to Joey.

"Let's do something else," Kaiba said.

"Sounds good," Joey said. He really didn't feel like playing anymore, anyway...the fun seemed to have gotten sucked out, as he thought about Kaiba's situation.

"Ya wanna eat somethin'?"

* * *

They ended up at the pizza place nearby. It was a typical college hangout, with cheap food, a Foosball table, and TV's blaring football from every direction. Before Joey knew it, he'd ordered a massive amount of fries and wings, and had eaten about half of them. He had also managed to spill every detail of his current relation to his parents to Kaiba in between the chicken and ranch sauce. He didn't remember how exactly they had gotten onto the topic, either...

"I knew you didn't have a healthy home life," Kaiba said, "But I didn't know it was that bad."

"Ah, it's not bad most of the time," Joey said, "now that I've moved out, I don't hear much from Dad anymore. Just Mom."

"At least you know them."

Joey's jaw stopped mashing fries for a moment.

"Oh yeah, that whole adopted thing..."

Kaiba focused on a corner of the table.

"Yes, the whole adopted thing. The fact I was adopted was how I got where I am now."

Joey swallowed.

"You mean, you wouldn't have inherited a company if ya hadn't been adopted?"

"Probably not. It wouldn't be this big, anyway. I would have had to start from scratch."

"Do you know anythin' about them?"

Kaiba looked back at Joey.

"Who?"  
"Your real parents," Joey clarified, before taking a huge swig of soda. He suppressed a belch; he figured Kaiba wouldn't take kindly to it.

Although that hadn't stopped him before...

"They gave us up 'cause they were in debt," Kaiba was saying, in clipped tones that told Joey it still angered Kaiba to think about it.

"...Damn," Joey said, eyes wide. "That really sucks ass."

Despite himself, Kaiba let out a small laugh.

"that's the most concise response I've ever gotten from telling someone that."

"It _does_ suck ass—I mean, damn. At least my parents _tried_ at the whole parenting thing. Yours just dumped you off to someone else."

"So which is better?" Kaiba asked, the humor leaving his face again, "knowing your parents _didn't_ try, or knowing that they probably _shouldn't _have tried?"

Joey blinked.

"That's kinda depressing ta think about."

Kaiba rest his head on one hand, and took a fry with the other.

"I suppose it is."

"Do ya do that all the time?"

"Do what?"

"Think about stuff like that."

"Probably. It's a sign of stress."

"From what?"

Kaiba stopped fiddling with his fry to stare at Joey again.

"This is my first weekend off since Christmas," he said, "I run one of the biggest companies in the world. I had to lie to everyone just to get out."

Joey's eyes almost fell out of his head; he felt his arm holding his next wing go slack from shock—again, for the millionth time that weekend.

"Then why the hell are ya here watchin' me eat fries?!"

The corner of Kaiba's mouth twitched.

"I'm serious, man! Ya need ta be somewhere relaxin', a' somethin'—

"Your accent's showing again."

Joey's eyes narrowed to a glare.

"That's nat da point!"

Kaiba had broken down into full-out laughter by that point. Joey watched him for a minute, amazed at how different Kaiba looked when he wasn't scowling. It made Joey start to laugh too; the mood was infectious. Soon he was weak with laughter, the fullness of his stomach adding to the effect.

Kaiba's laugh was rich and strong, accenting the mild base in his voice. Somehow, Joey thought, even though he never sounded like that speaking, it fit him. More than his speaking voice usually did.

After a while, they calmed down. Joey wiped tears from his eyes.

"I haven't laughed that hard in ages," he breathed. He held his sides again, "I'm hurting...."

Kaiba cleared his throat, and returned to his usual reserved self faster than Joey could blink.

"Getting back to the point, I think this is enough of a break."

Joey shook his head, chuckling again.

"If you say so, man. If you say so..."

He caught Kaiba looking at him again—with a small smile on his face.

"What?"

Kaiba shook his head. The smile disappeared.

"Nothing," he said, "Just thinking."

"About what?"

"It's nothing," Kaiba insisted. Joey didn't push it further. Again, he didn't feel like analyzing much. He didn't like doing that most of the time, now that he thought about it...

"Ya want the rest?"

Kaiba looked down at the fries and wings Joey had shoved across the table.

"I'm full."

Kaiba shut the take-out box they had come in.

"Sure."

* * *

They ended up walking back to Joey's apartment, near the university campus.

"You live here?" Kaiba asked, eying the complex as they neared it.

"Yeah," Joey said, "They're kinda old. They're cozy inside, though."

"What's your definition of cozy?" Kaiba asked flatly.

Joey pulled out the keys, stopping at a grungy ground-floor door with the number 15 on it.

"It's not fancy, if that's what you're askin'."

He shoved the door open like he always did, and shouted,  
"Hey, Jason! Ya in heah?"

"Yeah!" a voice called from the left, "Paige is here, too!"

"Hey, Paige!"

"Hi, Joey!"

"Where've you been, man?"

Jason came out of the kitchen, and saw Kaiba.

"Ah," he said in an amused tone, "Who's this?"

"He's a friend from high school," Joey said. He looked over to see Kaiba nodding.

"I'm Seto," he said.

"I'm Jason."

"And that's Paige," Joey pointed, as Jason's girlfriend joined him in the living room.

"Hi," Kaiba said again, nodding to Paige. Paige gave her usual cheery smile and waved.

"Do you go here?" Jason asked.

"Technically," Kaiba said, "But I take classes online. I work full-time."

"Oh, wow. That's gotta be tough, man," Jason said. Kaiba shrugged.

"You get used to it."

"I guess, but still—you probably get no free time."

"Nope."

"Yeah, he's really boring," Joey said.

"You're sloppy," Kaiba shot back. Paige laughed.

"Hay! I'm not that bad!"

"You're accent's showing."

"Ya better watch it, or I'll kick ya out again."

"Again?" Jason asked, trying to hide his laughter.

"He tried to kick me out of our friends' apartment yesterday."

"I couldn't leave 'cause of Sam!"

"Sam?" Jason asked again, "Who's Sam?"

"Wait—isn't that the dog you were dog sitting yesterday morning?" Paige asked.

"Yeah, that's him," Joey said, grinning.

"How did it go?"

"Well, he peed on the carpet, for one thing..."

Joey then launched into a very detailed account of what Sam had done that morning—again. Paige seemed excited; she loved dogs...

* * *

Meanwhile, Jason walked closer to Kaiba, who was a little ways from the other two.

"I think we lost them," he said.

"No kidding," Kaiba said. He laughed, a little. "He was talking baby-talk to the dog."

"I'd believe it," Jason laughed, "He's like a kid in an adult body."

Kaiba nodded, still smiling. Joey was reanimating Sam's antics when he'd been put on the couch—including how the dog had fallen asleep on Joey.

"So," Jason said, turning to Kaiba, "are you and Joey, you know...a thing?"

Kaiba glanced at Jason.

"No," he said, "This is probably going to be the last time I see him for a while."

"Oh, okay."

"...Do we seem like it?" Kaiba asked.

Jason shrugged.

"I just assume now," he said, "Every time I've been introduced to someone by Joey, he's dating them."

"Does he...date a lot?" Kaiba asked, somewhat surprised when Jason nodded.

"Well, it's not like he's changing out boyfriends every week, but there have been a lot of them since we've lived here."

"Really?"

"Yeah."

"I...didn't know that."

"I'm worried about him, actually," Jason said, "He acts like everything's fine, but the stuff he's been put through with some of these guys...it has to be eating at him."

"That's not new."

Jason looked at Kaiba.

"Seriously?"

"I think his personality is the only thing that's kept him sane sometimes," Kaiba said, "No matter what happens, he'll find a way to see the good in it."

He gave his head a shake; he realized he'd been staring at Joey as he'd been talking.

"I said that aloud, didn't I?"

Jason was smirking.

"Yes, you did. You _sure_ you aren't a thing...?"

"If you say anything to Joey, and I'll send someone after you."

Jason laughed.

"No worries, man, no worries..."

"Hey, Kaiba!"

Kaiba looked over to see Joey on the other side of the living room.

"Come here, I wanna show you something!"

Kaiba crossed the room in a few steps, and peered through the doorway next to Joey.  


* * *

"It's my room," Joey said, shutting the door behind them.

"I could tell that," Kaiba said, glancing around at the cramped space. Joey knelt on the bed and yanked the blinds open, revealing a bird's-eye view of the university; the hill the apartment was on sloped down steeply, ending right next to the campus.

"Neat, huh?"

Joey looked over his shoulder to see Kaiba gingerly kneeling on the bed next to him, being very careful to keep his balance. He looked out the window.

"Wow..."  
"It's pretty neat when there's something going on in the courtyard," Joey said, pointing to the center, "it looks like a bunch of ants around an anthill."

Kaiba laughed.

"I assume the fountain would be the anthill?"

"Yeah," Joey said, "Usually there's so many people in the fountain that it just looks like a mound of people in the middle of campus."

"_In_ the fountain?"

"Yeah," Joey said, "it's kind of a tradition, for some reason."

"That's a strange tradition."

Joey shrugged.

"Not as weird as some colleges I've heard of."

"True."

A silence fell over them. Joey found that it was a comfortable silence. It had been a while since he'd felt like that, he realized...

"Hey, Kaiba?"

"Hm?"

"Would you consider us friends?"

"...Yeah," Kaiba said, after a moment, "I guess I would."

"Does that mean we'll get to hang out again sometime soon?"

Kaiba paused.

"Well...it depends."

Joey turned.

"Huh?"

Kaiba shifted a little, keeping his eyes on the view as he said,  
"How long do you think we can stay friends?"

Joey frowned.

"What's that supposed ta mean? Ya don't think we can stay like this without startin' ta fight again, or something—?"

"It's not that," Kaiba interrupted.

Joey noticed his fist was clenched.

"....What do you mean, then?"

For a long moment, Kaiba didn't say anything. Joey waited, not sure where this was going...

"It's....not going to stay like that forever," Kaiba finally spit out; it seemed like saying the words had taken a great effort.

"What would it turn into?" Joey asked, trying to figure out—

Wait.

"Oh," Joey said, "You're talkin' about...more than friends?"

Kaiba suddenly pushed himself off the bed.

"I should go," he said.

"Wait—!" Joey leapt off and grabbed Kaiba's arm.

Kaiba froze.

Joey couldn't think of anything to say; After all, this whole turn of things was more than a little shocking—here he was, thinking that Kaiba just wanted to be friends, and then _this_ comes out—

"I wouldn't be able to keep this up," Kaiba said.

Joey opened his mouth, his mind still glued on the fact that Kaiba could actually feel like that for _him_, for Joey Wheeler...is this what Yami had been talking about?

Oh, god, it probably was.

Kaiba tried to pull his arm out of Joey's grip. Joey didn't let go, instead spitting out the next thought that flashed through his head.

"Did you—feel like this before?"

Kaiba didn't respond.

Joey stepped in between Kaiba and his bedroom door. Suddenly, all of the warning flags were falling into place, the hints, the things he hadn't understood...and the dog jokes. That entire time...he'd liked Joey the entire time...

"Can I leave?" Kaiba asked, looking everywhere but Joey's face. He sounded really uncomfortable.

"So you're just going to hole yourself up and hope it goes away?" Joey found himself asking, "That's not gonna solve anything!"

Kaiba looked directly into Joey's eyes. Joey found himself shocked, for a moment; his stare was piercing and intense. Joey looked down;_ that _had certainly summed everything up...

"Look," Kaiba said, "this isn't going to work—"

"Ya don't know until ya try," Joey interrupted, looking up again, "Right?"

They stayed like that for a very long time, if felt like—Joey blocking Kaiba from fleeing out the door, and Kaiba staring at Joey with a mixture of embarrassment and restraint.

"What are you saying?" Kaiba finally asked, his voice barely above a whisper.

Joey didn't really think about what he did next: he just stepped forward, reached up, and pulled Kaiba's head to his height just in time for their lips to collide, all in one fluid, confident motion.

Instantly, Joey felt a rush unlike any other he'd experienced—ever. He pulled in closer, surprised at how good it felt, practically pasting himself to Kaiba. Kaiba put his arms around Joey's waist, holding him tightly, enveloping Joey in the warmth and smell of him. He wasn't breathing; he felt his lungs pulling at his sides—he inhaled sharply, pressing in, wanting more—

He felt Kaiba pulling away. Joey let him go, opening his eyes and blinking—as though he were resurfacing from the depths of sleep...

"Wow," Kaiba croaked. He cleared his throat, "um..."

Joey found himself grinning.

"See?" he said, putting his arms around Kaiba's neck, "Way better than resisting."

"I...I didn't think that would ever happen," Kaiba said, in that same whisper-voice.

"Neither did I."

Kaiba looked Joey in the eye again.

"....You're serious about this?"

Joey nodded.

"Even though we just saw each other again after two years yesterday?"

Joey nodded.

"Even though I wouldn't have time to see you that often?"

Joey nodded again.

"..._why_?"

The expression on Kaiba's face made Joey laugh.

"Just a feeling," he said.

"...a feeling?"

"A feeling that it'll work out."

"That's it?" Kaiba asked, his tone skeptical.

"Well," Joey said, "that and I overheard you and Jason talking."

"Oh."

"And you just told me you've had a crush on me for a long time."

"Yeah, there's that—"

"And I'm lonely."

"Oh."

Joey felt his face flush, a little. Kaiba laughed.  
"I guess that makes sense."

He leaned in for another kiss—and Joey gladly complied.

* * *

A/N: (sigh).

I feel like this fic is a gutted fish I tried to put back together and revive. I don't know if I succeeded in the whole pairing thing being believable, but that's for you readers to decide. :)

If you enjoyed it, I'm happy. If not, then I apologize for my butchering the Kaiba/Joey pairing.

Until next time,

--Trem.


End file.
